Published Apr 5, 2016

Second Report Published in March/April Issue of Value in Health

Princeton, NJ—April 5, 2016—The International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) published a new Task Force Report, “Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis for Health Care Decision Making—Emerging Good Practices: Report 2 of the ISPOR MCDA Emerging Good Practices Task Force, ” in the March/April 2016 issue of Value in Health.  Many health care decisions are complex and require consideration of multiple, often conflicting objectives. They involve trade-offs that decision makers find challenging or on which they disagree. For instance, regulators often have to assess whether the benefits of a drug are sufficient to accept its safety risks. Lead author Kevin Marsh stated, “Decision makers, whether they are individuals, payers, or health ministries, often have difficulty processing and systematically evaluating potential treatment options and the numerous disparate factors impacting them. This set of techniques known as multiple criteria decision analysis (MCDA) can significantly improve the quality of complicated health care decisions.” This second MCDA Task Force Report builds on the foundational Report #1, “Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis for Health Care Decision Making—An Introduction: Report 1 of the ISPOR MCDA Emerging Good Practices Task Force,” published in the January/February 2016 issue of Value in Health. Co-author Maarten IJzerman explained, “While many MCDA methods exist, there is currently insufficient guidance on how to choose the right technique for a specific health care issue. The good practice guidelines provide an overview of the available MCDA methods and the principles to apply in choosing an appropriate method for a particular problem or decision.” The Task Force also developed a valuable checklist, the ISPOR MCDA Good Practice Guidelines Checklist, that outlines the steps for implementing MCDA. Finally, the capacity of MCDA to incorporate patients’ preferences on benefits and trade-offs of treatment options is an important benefit to all stakeholders.

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